Taking cognisance of media reports and camera footage showing Mathura MP and Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate from the Manth Assembly constituency Jayant Chaudhary receiving cash during a meeting, the Election Commission has served notice on him for violating the model code of conduct.

A separate show-cause has been served on RLD candidate from Goverdhan in Mathura district, Megh Shyam Singh. Mr. Chaudhary is the son of Civil Aviation Minister and RLD chief Ajit Singh.

The meeting was held at Magora in Goverdhan on Sunday. Mr. Chaudhary, campaigning for his fellow candidate from Goverdhan, is said to have taken Rs.70,000. The exchange was captured by cameras installed at the election meeting. The notice on Mr. Chaudhary and Mr. Singh was served by the Mathura District Magistrate and Returning Officer. Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha said the two had been given time till Tuesday to submit replies.

FIR against Rahul

In a related development, the Kanpur district administration has filed a case against the organisers of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's road show in Kanpur on Monday for the alleged violation of the model code. Mr. Sinha told The Hindu that Mr. Gandhi, Kanpur Congress unit president Mayank Dixit and 40 others had been named in the first information report (FIR).

Mr. Gandhi's road show hit a road block when the Kanpur district administration denied permission for the ‘jan sampark' programme on the 35-km route. The administration had allowed permission for the road show on a 20-km stretch. District Magistrate Hari Om said the change had been necessitated by the Mahashivratri. He said that since the road show was held in prohibited areas it was a case of code violation.

UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi condemned the district administration's decision and said that since election meetings were not held during the road show, and Mr. Gandhi made only public contact, there was no code violation. Dr. Joshi accused the Kanpur administration of working at the behest of the State government to place road blocks on Mr. Gandhi's route.

Given the surge in the election code violators if one could notice, and there appears no action worth to mention by the EC against the erring leaders for the reasons better known to EC,why this HUNGAMA. Is it not to fool the public ?